Easing Abuse Victims' Fears

The Children's Advocacy Center Is A Calm Place For Troubling Interviews.

January 11, 1999|By Kathryn Quigley of The Sentinel Staff

TAVARES - Seated on a comfortable couch, with a stuffed animal and a box of tissues nearby, the 13-year-old girl squirmed as the male detective asked questions about how she was sexually abused.

Clearly embarrassed, the girl crossed her arms and played with her hair band. The Lake County Sheriff's Office detective chatted with the girl about school and her family, trying to make her more comfortable.

``From the very beginning, tell me what happened,'' the detective said kindly.

A video camera concealed in a poster in the wall of the Lake-Sumter Children's Advocacy Center in Tavares recorded the interview. The tape will be used in court during the upcoming trial of the girl's neighbor, who is charged with sexually molesting her.

The girl sighed and squirmed some more before answering the questions.

``He started messing with me,'' she said softly.

The details started to emerge as the detective gently asked more questions.

``I wanted out,'' she said.

Although such interviews can be upsetting for young victims of sexual abuse, law enforcement officers and officials at the Advocacy Center said that videotaping them is far better than the alternative - requiring the children to tell their story over and over, eventually in a courtroom in front of strangers.

The center, which recently moved from Eustis into larger offices at 220 N. Rockingham Ave., is where such interviews are conducted. The goal of the ``kid-friendly'' center is to keep child abuse victims from being traumatized even further, said Executive Director Betty Zuckerman.

``The place is really coming together,'' she said, as she surveyed the 3,300-square-foot center last week. ``There's a lot more room.''

The center features a cheery waiting room, complete with a television, VCR, Nintendo games, books and toys. A full-size kitchen allows staff members to cook dinner for families before support group meetings on the first Thursday of every month.

Each of the four interview rooms at the center is decorated with a different theme, including bears, carousels or fish. The ``fish room'' is the main interview site for detectives because of the video camera in the wall. Caseworkers close the doors and keep parents out while investigators try to determine exactly what happened to the child.

Zuckerman said the most wrenching cases are when the father is suspected of abuse. In an interview videotaped a few months ago, a 9-year-old boy told a female detective that he was molested by his father.

``Lock him up,'' the little boy bluntly told the detective.

``He said he was going to whip me if I told.''

The boy noticed the camera, which is concealed, but not hidden.

``Who's watching me through that?'' the boy asked.

``It's just a tape,'' the detective replied. ``Just to make sure we got it straight.''

Detective Pete Ahern investigates many of the sexual-abuse cases for the Leesburg Police Department. He said videotaping interviews at the center is much better than conducting them in the intimidating atmosphere of the Police Department. Children are much more relaxed and open at the center, he said, especially after they have had a chance to play or color.

``They are much more willing to talk to you,'' Ahern said. The center ``has definitely helped me in my work.''

The center opened in March in donated office space in Eustis. The center moved into the larger location in Tavares at the end of November. Zuckerman, a longtime social worker, heads a staff of two full-time and two part-time case workers. Together, they provide counseling to abused children and their parents.

The center operates on a $120,000 annual budget. Zuckerman said most of that is grant money provided by the state Victims of Crime Act, as well as a grant from the Lake County Citizens' Commission on Children. Funding for the center is stable for this fiscal year, Zuckerman said, but a big part of her job is securing funding for the future.

Two new programs are in the works at the center, she said. Within a few months, the center hopes to have enough money to create a medical examination room. That way, pediatricians or nurse-practitioners would be able to conduct internal exams to check for evidence of abuse. Now, children must go to a pediatrician's office or an emergency room for the exam.

The center also hopes to pair up with the Bridges program in providing supervised visitation between parents and child victims of sexual abuse who are living in foster homes.

For more information about the Lake-Sumter Children's Advocacy Center, call (352) 343-6200.